Going in Circles

As a mom of two young boys I feel that I’m always running in circles. On a typical day I’m doing the “drop-off-pick-up” routine at schools, playgrounds and sports fields. At home I’m going from room to room, picking up, cleaning after, finding things, cooking a meal for Michael, and then back to picking up, cleaning, and finding. Same thing just a different hour of the day.

So it should be no small surprise that circles have become a strong design element in my work. On this first page, I used the buttons and hearts to encircle this snapshot of me hugging my baby Michael. Because seriously, my life is pretty sweet. Throughout the daily circular routine I get plenty of hugs and kisses. I’m just glad someone was there to capture one of those moments.

Kids can make anything fun. Every moment is playtime for them. Of course, a merry-ground helps! How lucky am I that Echo Park made the perfect line for this particular moment. The colors are amazing and they just happen to be my kids’ favorites. I never did get my perfect family snapshot on that ride but we did have fun trying.

For the past few months, I’ve been lucky enough to draw inspiration from Marianne aka ScrapNatya. Since the start of the year she has provided creative prompts through her series at 2peas: Stashbusters challenge. She draws from a wide array of inspiration including shapes, color pallets and design elements. Both layouts today were inspired by her creative prompt to use circles. She is joining me this Wednesday, so hop on over to her blog.  Also take a moment to visit the wonderful community of scrappers who participate in the Stashbusters challenges. It’s a nice place to be inspired and receive support and what makes this hobby an uplifting experience for me.

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My I love yous

Sunday was quite a special day. My son celebrated his birthday on Mother’s Day. Of course, I was bursting with all the emotions one feels as a parent watching their child grow up so quickly. He’s such a big boy–but I can remember the moment when he was born, the first time he looked at me,  his fingers wrapped around my pinky … Just as I was about to burst into tears, we ran outside and took a picture.

I am pretty sure that this is the last year that he’ll be shorter than me–and he’s only eight. Since we were outside this display of love was brief. Only seconds later, he was off to play, explore, run, jump and all sorts of things that active boys do.

I had to keep myself busy so I created this page about the two boys who love I love to the moon and back. 

 

 

2 for the work of 1

It’s been a busy month here. I have been creating page after page for mother’s day albums. Luckily, I didn’t hit a creative wall since there are many creative challenges others put out there. Once again, I have been inspired by Glitter’s Girl’s challenge of scrapping older memories while not missing the new ones made everyday . Once again, I am joined by other talented women for this blog hop highlighting our projects from the 2 for 1 challenge. Toni,  Lea. and Claire.

THE PROCESS

I put together a brightly colored kit–perfect for boys and got to work. Loved these papers so much that I only had a 4×6 square left. The embellies are my new faves–I didn’t finish them so there will be a few more projects featuring that Basic Grey line soon.

Echo Park, My Minds Eye, & Pebbles papers

Basic Grey, My Minds eye embellishments. American Crafts Thickers. Stamp and cameras by Studio Calico

THE STORY

With my son’s 8th birthday coming up I am riding an emotional rollercoaster. I’m so happy to see him healthy, growing so quickly and learning new things. But I am a shocked at how fast time is flying. My baby is going to be eight! I’m sure I’m just going to be flabbergasted when he’s eighteen. Well, at least I’m not crying like last year. Lots of drama when he turned seven. Seriously, though, look at how cute he was at 18 months. Chubby cheeks, toy animals, crazy curly hair …. Just too cute for words!

And here he is a few weeks ago at a gymnastics class. He’s always bouncing off one thing or other, doing roundabouts and cartwheels from room to room instead of just walking. So of course, his coach told me he was a natural. Not a surprise at all. BUT LOOK AT HOW BIG HE’S GOTTEN!!

My creative companions

Claire is preserving similar feelings in her layouts.  Here’s a sneek of her “baby no longer”.Make sure to head over to her blog to see the 2-pager of her baby daughter.

adventuresinsingapore-clairetet.blogspot.sg

Next up, Lea shares her beautiful pictures through the seasons. I love her photography and design elements. Here’s a sneak of a winter layout that she made with scraps–which makes me excited to see what she does with whole sheets. Hop on over to her blog to see her scenic layouts.

http://afreezeframe.blogspot.fr/

Finally, Toni has the sweetest layered projects of her son. She pulled together several lines from October afternoon. What I like most is the back shots–since we as parents are often right behind our children during their adventures. Such a lovely way to capture a moment as seen through her eyes. Here are two sneeks and make sure to visit her blog for the full reveal.

http://lifescrapbookrepeat.blogspot.com/

http://lifescrapbookrepeat.blogspot.com/

Come back next Wednesday to see what creative challenge we’ve tackled. And to all the moms out there–HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!

We love to play

Welcome to the third week of our Shimelle-inspired blog hop. As I mentioned previously, Shimelle devised a formula designed to show how versatile our supplies are. This formula as well as an amazing 38 minute scrapbook video can be found at Two Peas in a Bucket. Thanks to her and my fellow bloggers, I have one album done and enough time to make another one.This week we are joined by: Toni From, Danielle Higginbottom, and Lea Lacoste. A special shout-out to Toni for initiating this blog hop and for sharing super-cool projects all week long. It’s been great to do this project with other talented ladies, especially Danielle and Lea.

I’ve shared these pictures before but its the story behind them that’s new. I was asked recently if I viewed the world differently now that I take the time to scrapbook our family memories. I’ll use this layout as an example.  Right off, who can forget a warm day in November. Obviously the boys had fun. But what I remember most from this day, is not in the picture. (Because if you are a parent, you know how chaotic life is right before you go out the door!)  My brother (who is a super-important, super-busy person) turns to me and says: “So this is how you do it? You got quite a routine down.” And while we didn’t have any time to take this observation further I got that warm fuzzy feeling that happens when someone compliments you. It was really nice to have my daily efforts acknowledged. Moms don’t always get that type of daily affirmation. I wouldn’t even have picked that particular moment of crazy to tell someone else they were doing a great job. So, in addition, to basking in the afterglow of this memory, I was reminded that we all need to tell mothers that they are doing a great job. Go ahead, don’t wait until Mother’s Day. Tell them now! After all, this layout depicts a moment of fun and my son looks really cute. But coordinating this outing took the managerial skills of the President’s Chief of Staff and the patience of a revered saint. By the ways, I love the yellows in this layout. So much happiness!

Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone. Make sure to hop on over to Toni’s , Danielle’s, & Lea’s blogs. Here’s a few sneaks:

http://lifescrapbookrepeat.blogspot.com/

http://piperloo.blogspot.ca/

http://afreezeframe.blogspot.fr/

 

 

I want ….

Welcome to week 2 of our Shimelle-inspired blog hop. Ever the practical one she devised a formula designed to show how versatile our supplies are. The formula and 38 minute scrapbook video can be found at Two Peas in a Bucket. I am in the midst of creating albums so her plan is just what I need to get it done. Sharing this adventure with me is Toni From and Danielle Higginbottom. Join us every Wednesday to see what we are creating with our Glitter Girl inspiration.

This week the super talented Danielle Higgibottom at piperloo  is joining us. She’s done an amazing job with color. Look at those cute house and the bottle caps & flairs. Visit her blog to see how she pulled all this loveliness together.

Here’s a few sneaks:

Toni From is showcasing a layers upon layers of pretty papers and embellies. I’m loving all those wood embellishments she used.

I bet you are excited to see her finished work. Hop over to Toni’s blog to see this celebration of family love.

Finally, I also am sharing some family love. Really it’s a layout about about my youngest insatiable appetite. The first words he utters in the morning is his breakfast order. It’s not the same thing every morning so it’s clear that he’s been dreaming about eating and food.

I am not a morning person. I’m being honest here. I love my boys. I love Michael’s smile in the morning. But I really need my coffee before I can think about kitchen duty. Fortunately my husband is an early riser. He might not have a buffet at the ready but he’s always willing to fill up Michael’s tummy.

Last week, as I sipped my second cup of coffee while my baby gobbled his breakfast I realized how good we have it. Not only for the plentiful food we can give them but also for my partner that steps in when I’m not fully awake. My life may be chaotic but it really is beautiful.

All my kit supplies can be found here: http://senoritaml.wordpress.com/2013/04/17/hang-in-there/

Hang in there!

The amazing Shimelle has once again shared an inspiring video just in time for my Mother’s Day scrapbooking. Ever the practical one she devised a formula designed to show how versatile our supplies are. This formula (created by Shimelle) as well as an amazing 38 minute scrapbook video can be found at Two Peas in a Bucket. I am in the midst of creating albums so her plan is just what I need to get it done. Sharing this adventure with me is Toni From. Join us every Wednesday to see what we are creating with our Glitter Girl inspiration.

I chose my supplies by color. I’ve been working with a lot of blue lately. I really needed the switch to yellow. The products are leftovers from Studio Calico’s Lost Boys and Toe Stop as well as Noel Mignon’s Daffodil Hill. So much loveliness ….

my latest kit

Toni’s colorful kit features quite a bit of Studio Calico’s Snippet’s collection and Here & There.

Lots of happy colors so make sure to stop by her blog to see what’s she’s created with all that loveliness.

Here’s the first project. Quite simple with just one photo & diecut, washi, wood banners (OMG, I love these!) and of course pretty paper. Clearly, Shimelle’s own obsession with pretty papers had affected me.

Layout #1

See that smile? It makes my heart burst with unimaginable love and happiness. Here he is having so much fun playing at one of the many playgrounds in Boston. Monday’s events gave me pause as a parent. I encourage my children to explore and take advantage of where we live. We go to the zoos, aquarium, museums, outdoor festivals and countless other things. If anything, my family is like “can we just stay home?!?” Suddenly, that doesn’t seem like such a bad idea.

In memory of a child who surely walked to same places as my boys do, may we find a way to bring peace & happiness to all of the world’s children.

Rest in peace Martin Richards.

Playground Fun

Spring means time to head to the playground. The snow has finally melted and these outings are once again part of our daily routine. I’m fortunate to live in an area with lots of them. It’s fun to go to different ones throughout the week.

I’ve been busy taking pictures and was just about to scrap them when I came across a pile of pictures taken last November on an unusually warm day. Of course, I seized the moment and shoved everyone out the door. As you can see they really Gabriel really enjoyed himself. My brother got quite a workout doing the see-saw with them since Michael is too little to balance out Gabe. I am SO glad he was there to do that! Lots of layers from Fancy Pants on top of the cool Elle Studio paper. My favorite part of this page is my attempt at a graffiti title and of course the smile washi.

Here’s the second page of this project. The design on this layout has been inspired by Mercy Tiara’s A Day of Fun. Check out her blog to learn how to make the circles pop! I don’t have a cool Cameo so my circles are not as numerous or intricate as hers, Regardless, the design with Fancy Pants’  Good Life collection captures the playfulness of the day.

In current family news, baseball season has started for Gabriel. It’s still cold and too windy for me. But freezing on the sidelines is not my biggest concern at the moment. We moved into a state where the baseball team is the rival of the home team I have always rooted for. It’s odd to go into the stores and see this gear everywhere since I know that my boys are going to want some soon. And here I always said “My kids don’t wear red socks …” That’s clearly about to change.